Cattle drive may get back in the saddle at OC Fair

Hundreds of cattle could be returning to the streets of Costa Mesa this summer for the 125th annual Orange County Fair.

With this year’s theme of “One Big Party,” plans are brewing to bring back the fair’s popular cattle drive in August, said Doug Lofstrom, who recently left his post as the fairgrounds’ acting chief executive.

Now, Lofstrom said, his new official title is cattle drive coordinator.

The fair last hosted a cattle drive in 2008, when 300 steers walked 3.5 miles of city streets, finishing at the fairgrounds. This year’s event is tentatively scheduled for the morning of Aug. 8. The fair will run from July 17 to Aug. 16.

Like the other cattle drives, hordes of riders and dogs are expected to help guide the steers. Lofstrom will be among the group, on horseback.

Should any cattle stray too far, the canines are expected to bring them back to the herd.

“The dogs are the real heroes of the cattle drive,” Lofstrom said.

The drive is true to the fairgrounds’ agricultural history, he said. “And at the end of the day, people love a parade. It’s all of those things wrapped up in a very unique way.”